#GETTHE CUSHIONSUNDAY! TAKE YOUR PICK : LAUREL AND HARD BEHIND THE SCENES : CUSHING CLIP AND AMAZON PULLS BOOTLEGS

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Ok I have deliberately left this post until today, Sunday's are usually busy here and even more so, on our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE where readers can comment on the thread 🙂 I have been approached by a major player in blu ray and DVD distribution... and they have asked me to supply the following... ' Select ONE HAMMER film, ONE AMICUS film and ONE from any genre from the careers of BOTH Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee from any OTHER studio....' That's it. Here you can send us a email or message, using the comment button. Can you HELP please 🙂 Let's have your suggestions.... Thank you, Marcus.

#GETTHECUSHIONSUNDAY! Here's one you may want to copy and look a little close at. Behind the Scenes photographs of from the LAUREL and HARDY film 'A Chump At Oxford' (1940) which as you probably know, also features a young Peter Cushing! Some wonderful snaps here. I love the one of Stan putting on his make up! Cushing is the one bottom left.... when Peter spoke about the film, his memories were of Olly sitting at a trolley eating donuts to keep his weight up and Stan planning the stunts and business that was happening on the shoot on those days. LOVE Laurel and Hardy and love the fact that Peter Cushing got the chance to work with them, all those years ago..... — with laurel And hardy, Peter Cushing and A Chump at Oxford.

#GETCUSHIONSUNDAY! I wonder how many of you have managed to see this great little thriller starring Stanley Baker, Peter Cushing, Jack Eric Portman and Mia Zetterling . . . ? The Man Who Finally Died, it's a real tense little thriller, that had me guessing until the end. One of my top five non fantasy genre Cushing films. Here's a neat clip, for a taster.... 


ABOVE: BACK IN THE 1990'S THE HOLSTEN PILS COMPANY used footage from 'The Man Who Finally Died' in a spoof advert for the alcohol tv advertising campaign. The clip stars Petet Cushing and UK comedian,  Griff Rhys Jones . .

UPDATED! You remember our news about a 'company' that was putting out several REALLY poor quality dvds of Cushing's films on ebay and Amazon? Well following emails and messages to those sites, the bootlegs have now been pulled. Thank you for your help on this . . .

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us . . Keep The Memory Alive!. The Peter Cushing Appreciation Society website, facebook fan page and youtube channel are managed, edited and written by Marcus Brooks, PCAS coordinator since 1979. PCAS is based in the UK and USA   

WHEN VINCENT PRICE SURPRISED CHRISTOPHER LEE, LEE SURPRISED CUSHING AND CUSHING SURPRISED LEE!

#HAMMERFILMSATURDAY: NOT A POST ON A HAMMER FILM as such, but certainly the emphasis is on shock and surprise! All three actors in this feature, relied on the power of surprise and of the unexpected, those golden rules were also the glue that held a television show like, 'THIS IS YOUR LIFE' together, and made it such a thrill to watch. The big question, after the initial netting of the programmes 'victim', was who was going to walk through the door and appear in the studio next?

THERE CAN'T BE MANY who have never seen the show, which was originally screened in the USA and  hosted by its creator and producer, Ralph Edwards. Christopher Lee was chosen as the shows subject on 3rd April 1974. At 51 years old, Lee still had a very long way to go and several major career defining roles at this point in his long life. The guests included  his wife, Gitte, daughter Christina, his mother, sister, brother, and fellow actors Peter Cushing, Vincent Price, Patrick Macnee, and Sammy Davis Jr. Lee who sometimes could be a little stiff and guarded in personal appearances on tv, looked relaxed and having a good time, thankfully a position that we would eventually see him adopt more often, as he got older.

BECAUSE OF WORK commitments, Christopher Lee was unable to attend Peter Cushing's 'The Is Your Life' tribute show in 1990. But he did record a message for his friend, whic was played to Cushing, during the recording of the show.

THE 'NO-SHOW' at the studio, for Peter's programme, surprised a few people. Often the show had a habit of showing a recording of a guest who could be there, for whatever reason.. and then bringing the same guest on from around the back...they were there all the time! But, sadly not in this case. The show was a great success, with much laughter from Peter, who waqs obviously enjoying himself. Maybe, a Cushing This Is Your Life should have happened sooner? Peter looked frail, many  guests who could have contributed much to the story of Peter's life, had long passed. Having said that, Joyce Broughton, in several interviews, always made the point of, Cushing telling her, 'If that show gets in touch, tell them no. Under no circumstances, no!' It''s worth noting that, Cushing DID know about the  planned recording weeks before, when he became so suspicious of Joyce's behavior, she had to tell him. If that was a good thing or not, you decide... 

RALPH EDWARDS APPROACHES, Price in a bookstore and says, 'It's good to see you are autographing a copy of your own book, 'A Treasury of American Art' ..and at no point does Vincent suspect anything is a-miss. 'Yes, that's right.' says Price, 'It's a wonderful book!' 'Well..' says Edwards, 'I have another book, with your name on it, right on the front cover!'....and at that point, starts to pull out, the BIG book from a plastic carrier bag. 'I REALLY don't believe it!' howls Price. And, another one heads off to '...a studio, just a few blocks away' to meet his family and friends, before the cameras. Price has a wonderful time, and his genuine warmth and love for the guests who appear, is plain to see.

IF YOU LIKE what you see here at our website, you'll  love our daily themed posts at our PCAS FACEBOOK FAN PAGE.  Just click that blue LINK and click LIKE when you get there, and help us reach our 30K following total for Peter Cushing BIRTHDAY on MAY 26th 2017 AND Help Keep The Memory Alive!

TOOCOOLTUESDAY: THE DRESSING ROOMS OF PETER CUSHING

'Rider is a set of requests or demands that a performer sets as criteria for performance. Types of riders include hospitality and technical...'

#TOOCOOLTUESDAY : In these times of OTT indulgence, actions and re-actions... the performer and diva stands where they have always been. Wherever they want and with whatever they want. Not this sense of entitlement and behavior is anything new, they were stamping their feet and throwing out teddy in the world of entertainment back in Peter Cushing's day too. (Joan Collins in Hammer films 'Fear In The Night' co starring Peter Cushing...anyone??) The dressing room for many, is the domain of the star. Where he or she waits for the call, but more importantly where they will meet and often greet visitors to studio or the theater. So, like being judged by the position and quality of your seating, stand, balcony or Royal Box at they show, their level of influence, power and tantrum potential is measured by the level of tolerance and cringe worthy towing -the line and forelock tugging!

There are dressing rooms, and there are DRESSING ROOMS. Who could ever forget this rider :   Crystal champagne. One box of bendy straws. One special attendant to dispose of used chewing gum. Tea service for eight. A Honey Bear pack of honey. Two air purifiers. Puppy. Kittens. For Peter Cushing, his dressing room, once a place of singing, japes and fun, was in the last third of his career, something else....

 

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TOM EDWARDS EYE ON THE FRANKENSTEIN SET

#frankensteinfriday : THIS LESSER SEEN PUBLICITY STILL from Hammer films, The Revenge of Frankenstein is one that has been rarely published, and yet for me it's one of the best stills from the whole Frankenstein / Hammer/Cushing series... stills photographer, Tom Edwards who worked for Hammer quite extensively from 1956 until 1966 and on most of Cushing features with the company at that time, is the eye behind this photograph!There's some fine skill and composition in this guillotine shot with Cushing. A shot like this, would have been passed over in the press office when selecting their press packs to sell the movies... but Cushing's expression and the subtle drama in this shot, certainly works for me.

Another Revenge of Frankenstein still from Tom Edwards. Again 

his framing technique serves the subject very well.

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GUESS THE FILM AND THE ACTRESSES : ON SET SATURDAY

#ONTHESETSATURDAY: We have a couple of choice behind the scenes and on set photographs and rare colour transparencies for you this week. A little different this time around, I would like you to tell US which film these great snaps come from, and of course the only thing they really have in common, is they are all from Peter Cushing films. HAVE FUN!

TO FINISH OFF...This is one of my all-time personal favourite 'behind the scenes' photographs from a Peter Cushing film! It's wonderfully busy, a real slice of life from the set of Hammer film at lovely ol Bray studios... Peter Cushing compares notes and script with director Terence Fisher, while an assistant to wardrobe mistress Rosemary Burrows,quickly fixes a stitch or seam on the belt of Cushing's waist coat, while actor Thorley Walters stops and pauses to rethink that line of dialogue... actress Susan Denberg wanders by, playing with her bonnet!.... absolutely charming!

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PETER CUSHING GIF GALLERY NUMBER 7 DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN AND ON THE SET!

AND ALREADY, we are at PCAS GIF GALLERY NUMBER 7! Gifs have proven to be extremely popular on both here and our FACEBOOK FAN PAGE and there is of course an ENDLESS supply of classic shots, scenes and moments to choose from, it's sometimes hard to make a choice! It's great that YOU make a choice too! If YOU have a favourite shot, moment, a piece of action... that you would like to REQUEST to appear here and at the FACEBOOK PAGE, to loop and rotate for all of eternity, do send us a message at the PAGE or send us an email to this website, via our email : petercushingpcas@gmail.com. In the meantime, here are a selection of gifs from our posts over the last five days!

THE RELAXED AIR of this photograph clearly demonstrates, that here we have two good friends, very comfortable with one another, even under the glare of the studio lighting.This pic, featuring Peter Cushing and his co star, Veronica Carlson is one of many shots, taken for publicity purposes, leading up to the release of Hammer films, 'Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed' (1969)

For more behind the scenes rare pics from Peter Cushing Hammer films, be sure to drop by on Friday's for our ‪#‎frankensteinfriday‬ galleries, posts and Saturday's for ‪#‎onsetsaturday‬, where we present all kinds of vintage and rare images from the sets of some of Peter Cushing classic and not so well known films!

#‎onsetsaturday‬ Peter Cushing relaxes on set of 'Frankenstein Created Woman' (1967) at Bray Studios while being 'groomed' and made up here by, George Partleton make-up artist and Frieda Steiger hairdresser.

#‎onsetsaturday‬ Here's ‪#‎christopherlee‬ on the set of Hammer films, 'Dracula AD 1972', popping in the fangs before the camera rolls.

#‎FrankensteinFriday‬: Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) 'getting out of the way' of The Monster (Kiwi Kingston) in Hammer's The Evil Of Frankenstein (1964) ‪#‎petercushing‬ ‪#‎frankenstein‬ ‪#‎Hammerfilms‬

#‎onsetsaturday‬ : Even DRACULA has bad hair days! Christopher Lee leaves his trailer and walks onto the filming location for the prologue of Hammer films, Dracula AD 1972... and once again, fight to the death with Peter Cushing's, Van Helsing! ‪#‎sherlockholmes‬ ‪#‎petercushing‬ ‪#‎hammerfilms‬

#‎TooCoolTuesday‬:This 1973 film has EVERYTHING going for it. A great 'monster', Peter Cushing AND Christopher Lee, supported by a superb cast all directed by the top talent that was Freddie Francis... it ticks NEARLY all the boxes for me. I have only one gripe.. THAT title! It was obviously an 'off day' at the Tigon films office, when they let the tea-boy, come up with that one! IF you had been standing there, instead of that tea-boy...what TITLE would YOU have given this film? It HAS to be better than The CREEPING Flesh, surely ;) ‪#‎christopherlee‬ ‪#‎petercushing‬

MORE GIFS NEXT WEEK! BE SURE TO LET US KNOW, IF Y9OU HAVE ANY REQUEST!

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